Fatal Frame II: The Crimson Sacrfice.
Introduction:
Two chosen Children, shall be carried to Heaven, on the Wings of a Butterfly. Crimson Butterflyâs normal ending, written on what I think Mio would be thinking and feeling.
CLICK.
FLASH.
WHIRL.
I drop to my knees as the Kusabi disappears, moaning and screaming as he goes. My hands are shaking around the Camera Obscura, it feels hot in my hands like it does after facing one of those poor, damned souls, and he was the biggest Iâve done, and the camera feels as if it is burning and blistering my hands. I feel sweat drip down my face, and my clothes are clinging to me and covered in dirt, I ache all over and my eyes are heavy. I just want to curl into a ball and sleep, Iâm so tired, I havenât had rest all night.
âI wish this night were over with.â
An image of Mayu flashes through my mind. âI must save my sisterâŠâ The thought is exhausted; Iâve said it over and over throughout the night, a mantra I wish would leave me alone.
I get shakily to my feet, gripping the Camera as I walk slowly towards the steps leading lower into hell. I look back, seeing this simple room, nothing but candles with a space in the center, I see the Kiryu twins have returned in their eternal sacrifice. I hear their voices drift over.
âDonât killâŠâ
âKill meâŠâ
I feel a tear roll down, but it stops after that, Iâve cried so much already, I donât think I can anymore now. Another image flashes through, me leaving here without Mayu, going through the tunnel in the Shrine and just leaving and not looking back and I cringe from the thought.
âI must save herâŠâ
I turn and start going down the steps, and the end of the steps and down the tunnel a couple feet I see a crumpled piece of paper.
Yae,
You came for me after all.
Please hurry.
Iâm right below you.
I know you might not make it in time, but Iâll wait for you until the very end.
-Sae
Just a few simple words of a sister believing she was going to be saved, well, at least her definition of saved. Sae wanted to die, to have her twin Yae perform the sacrifice with her.
The damned sacrifice, how cruel is it to make a set of twins go through this, to make the âolderâ kill the âyoungerâ. I can see why Yae wanted to leave with Sae, no matter what Sae said, that she wanted to, I can see why Yae tried to get them away, but in the end, Sae got caught and hung by the villagers and causing the Repentance, and then Sae and the failed Kusabi slaughtered the village.
âMayu also wants to go through with the ritual.â I shake my head of the thought. âNo, she canât, she doesnât want to die.â
I continue walking down the tunnel, trying to hurry but also dreading what I might find. I see an ending to the passageway and hurry towards it. I enter into a big, cavernous room. There isnât much in it, a giant flat topped rock, big enough for a person to comfortably lie on. And behind it is a giant square shaped pit. That is the Abyss.
Overhead is a small circular opening which is streaming in a faint amount of moonlight, which is the only light other than the few torches lining the area.
In front of the Abyss is Mayu.
Sheâs standing there solemnly. She looks better than I, not covered in dirt or sweat, her light brown thigh length dress looking like it did when she first followed that Butterfly into the village, her big brown eyes staring at me, seeming to actually go through me.
Sae has been leading her around by the nose since we broke the barrier into the All Godâs Village. She canât want to go through with the ritual can she? It has to be Saeâs influenceâŠright?
I start to walk towards her. After a couple steps the scene suddenly changes. Priests surround us, and I can hear the Mourners behind me. The Priests shuffle slightly, they want this sacrifice to happen, want to be rid of the Malice and the Repentance. I can see the whites of their knuckles as the grip their staffs hard. I cannot see but an outline of their faces due to the cover, but I can imagine that their faces are full of hope and apprehension. They want me to kill Mayu, thatâs why they have been trying to capture us all along, to bring us here.
âYae.â Mayuâs mouth moves but I hear Saeâs voice, though faintly, I hear Mayu say âMio.â I stop, and stare at my sister. She stares at me unblinkingly, and my legs start to tremble in fear. Fear for my sisterâŠand fear for myself.
âWe were born together. But we have to live, and die, separately.â The shaking in my legs gets stronger and my mind starts to grow fuzzy. I can see little black and white dots dance before my eyes. Iâm scared, more so than Iâve ever been. âWhy? Why am I here? I must run, leave this place, donât look back⊠âThen I recover slightly when I hear Mayuâs voice.
âI knew this, I knew.â She says softly, looking away from me for the first time since I came to rescue her. I hear sadness in her voice, the slight quiver in her lip as she looks away. This is really Mayu talking to me. I finally find my voice again, the dots receding, and I start walking towards her. I have a slight tremble in my voice as I say, âMayu, weâll be together, we will.â
Mayu closes her eyes and breathes in slightly. I see her hands shaking, but, I donât think itâs with fear. âWe canât be together forever.â She says, her eyes moving back to mine as I step before her.
We are right beside the rock. This is where it happens, this is where they make the twins perform the Crimson Sacrifice.
I hear Mayuâs voice, from earlier in the Doll Room, flicker in the back of my mind. âTwo chosen children, shall be carried to HeavenâŠon the wings of a Butterfly.â
âIs this how itâs meant to be?â
Mayu grabs my wrist gently but with a firm grip and pulls me with her onto the rock. She lies under me, completely open and at my mercy, as she has me straddle her waist. âI donâtâŠI donât want toâŠâ
âBut with this, we can become one.â She says, as if reading my mind. I want to be with her forever, we will never escapeâŠnot unless IâŠ
âSo itâs alright.â She reassures me and pulls my hands down onto her neck, wrapping them around her throat. I can feel her pulse, sheâs so relaxed, and itâs not racing at all, just a normal steady rhythm.
Beat. I donât want to do this. Beat. I canât do this. Beat. I donât want to deal with this anymore. Beat. I have to. Beat. I have to do itâŠ
Mayu pulls me down, placing her mouth near my ear. I can feel her warm breath tickle my neck. âKill me.â She whispers.
My mind goes blank at her words, and I start pressing down onto her neck, cutting off any oxygen. The Priests start banging their staffs onto the rocky floor, making a cacophony of sounds. They get what they want., and I can sense their happiness.
âDamn them, damn all of themâŠandâŠâ
Iâm looking down at Mayu and I see her smile slightly, but it barely registers. My mind doesnât see it. I see when we were kids.
âMio! Wait up! Donât leave me behind! Wait forâŠAhhh!!â Her sentence cuts off as she falls down, tumbling down the steep slop and hitting the bottom, forever damaging her leg. The guilt I felt for not listening. Itâs my fault, I have to take care of my sisterâŠbutâŠ
âTwo chosen Children.â
Iâm so tired of it, Iâm so tired of having to take care of her all the time, sheâs the older sibling, not me, even though by this villageâs standards Iâm the older, but in modern times she is. She should take care of me, she shouldnât be making me do this. I donât want to live with the responsibility anymore. I have toâŠ
Then words hit me, a combination of Saeâs and Mayuâs voices.
âWhy didnât you kill me back then, to feel your hands wrapped around my neck, so warm and alive. Why, I wanted to become one with you so badly, to be one forever as a Butterfly. Why didnât you make me into a Butterfly. WhyâŠwhyâŠwhy?â
âShall be carried to Heaven.â
My head swims with images, how Sae got caught when her and her sister tried to escape, how she saw Itsuki hang himself, how the Priests and her own father take her down to the Abyss and hang her before throwing her in and then all the hell that erupted because it didnât appease it.
Sae and the Kusabi killing all the villagers, hearing Sae laugh maniacally and her kimono becomes splattered with the blood of her victims. All the people who have accidentally wondered into this village, with the inhabitants hoping they would be the ones to stop the Repentance, they never had their prayers received. But nowâŠ
âOn the Wings of a Butterfly.â
My mind snaps back and I get a full view of Mayuâs face. Sheâs still, her face faintly puffy and red with purple circles under her eyes and her lips are a whitish blue, yet she seems so peaceful, she still has that small smile on her face. She isnât breathing, I slowly take my hands away, revealing the glowing red mark on her neck in the form of a butterfly, as the Mourners come on either side and grab onto her wrists and ankles.
âWhat have I done?â
I scramble off of Mayuâs body and the Mourners haul her up and position themselves in front of the Abyss. With unseeing eyes, they throw her body into the Abyss.
I canât focus on anything, nothing. Iâm alone, all alone. I start shaking fiercely, my face twisting in pain as I grip my head, trying to force the thoughts out, thoughts of what Iâve just done.
âIâve killed herâŠâ
I run over to the Abyss, Itsukiâs voice flashing through my mind telling me not to look in. I reach the edge, and just before I look down a little bright red light comes floating out. It gets closer. Itâs a butterfly, a Crimson Butterfly.
âMayu?â
The Butterfly stops slightly at eye level, and I hear Mayuâs voice. âThank you.â Then she starts flying up, more Butterflies come pouring out of the Abyss, the Butterflies of the Sacrificed twins, rising out through the opening at the top of the cave. I turn on my heel and run, up the passageway, and through the Kurosawa house, heading to Misono Hill.
I run after Mayu, chasing her Butterfly. I stumble and fall, scraping my knees and hands, but I barely notice the pain. Butterflies are surrounded me, I can see all the spirits gathering in the streets as I run, watching as the Butterflies lift the Repentance from their existence. I see Itsuki, Mutsuki and Chitose on the Heaven Bridge, finally together again. I run through All Godâs, and finally getting to Misono Hill.
âIâm sorry, Iâm so sorry.â I cry after her, even though I canât which Butterfly she is anymore. âIâm so sorry!â
Iâm heading in the direction of the barrier, it should be lifted now. I should be leaving with Mayu, why arenât I. âSo sorry.â
I stop, still calling for her, when a Butterfly turns and flies down to me. âMayu?â I reach out my hand towards her, and her wings gently brush against my fingertips. Then she turns with the others and leaves. That is the good-bye I get. Iâll never see my sister again.
I fall to my knees and cry like a lost child as the sun comes and breaks through the eternal night of All Godâs Village.
***
The water is perfect as I sit silently on the bench staring blankly at the sunset. Its sparkles off the water, looking beautiful as the rays gently dance on the surface. Birds are flying overhead, whistling their gentle tune. The air is warm, and there is a gentle breeze and it blows my hair lazily. People are walking by, jogging, walking their dogs and fishing. A perfect afternoon.
Iâm not really seeing any of it though. Mayu, lying cold and still is all I see now, when I eat, when I sleep. Every night I dream of her, every night I see my sins, I see my sister dying by my own hands, what I didnât realize then but I do now, is that I was smiling throughout the whole time I was killing her.
I lift my hand to my neck, its still sore. My mark can never be hidden, Uncle Kei speculates what it is, but does really know. He will never understand, no one will. I hope he never find out about All Godâs through his research.
The mark of the Butterfly is placed on both twins, the sign of the Sacrificed, and the sign of the Remaining, a reminder to all of the Hell they put us throughâŠand the heartbreak.
âTogetherâŠForeverâŠâ
*Thank you all for reading and I plan to write more of these on how I would view what the characters are thinking and all that, I think I will write the Nightmare ending for this next and work with the others. I hope you guys enjoyed, rate & comment please.*